Device for use on cooking ranges



Aug. 2, 1938. R. J. MERRITT DEVICE FOR USE ON COOKING RANGES Filed June18, 1957 Patented Aug. 2, 1938 iJNlTED STATES PATENT OFFIQE Robert J.Merritt,

Los Angeles, Calif.

Application June 18, 1937, Serial No. 148,871

14 Claims.

This invention relates to cooking stoves or ranges and relates moreparticularly to ranges or stoves having condiment carrying devices.

Cooking ranges are often provided with tops or covers for covering thetop burners and the plate warming top of the oven. These covers areusually hinged at their rear edges and when they are raised or openedthey conceal the rear guard rail of the range. The rear guard rail of arange is a convenient place to position salt and pepper receptacles;etc. and the rail is often provided with pockets or similar means forsuch condiment receptacles. However, when the covers are raised theyconceal the receptacles on the rear guard rail and make them practicallyinaccessible.

A general object of this invention is to provide an improved cookingrange having a hinged cover and a condiment carrier normally positionedat the rear guard rail that may be easily operated to a position whereit is conveniently accessible when the cover is to be brought to itsraised or "open position.

Another object of this invention is to provide a range constructionembodying a rear guard rail, hinged covers and shiftable condimentcarriers that may be quickly moved between positions at the rear guardrail and positions where they are conveniently accessible at the sidesor ends of the range when the covers are to be raised to their openpositions where they conceal the greater portion of the guard rail.

Another object of this invention is to provide a cooking rangeconstruction of the character mentioned in which the mechanisms foroperating or shifting the condiment carriers are small and compact andare entirely concealed.

Another object of this invention is to provide a range construction ofthe character mentioned in which the condiment carriers may be easilyand conveniently shifted to their out or accessible positions at theends of the range after the range covers have been moved to their openor raised positions.

A further object of this invention is to provide a cooking rangeconstruction of the character mentioned in which the condiment carriersand their operating means may be easily and inexpensively embodied inthe general range construction.

The various objects and features of my invention will be fullyunderstood from the following detailed description of typical preferredforms and applications of the invention, throughout which descriptionreference is made to the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a front elevation of a portion of a cooking range embodyingone form of the invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary rear viewof the construction illustrated in Fig. 1 with broken lines illustratingthe condiment carrier in its projected or extended position. Fig. 3 is afragmentary vertical detailed sectional view taken substantially asindicated by line 33 on Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a fragmentary rear elevationview of a portion of a range embodying another form of the invention.Fig. 5 is a reduced fragmentary front elevation of the structureillustrated in Fig. 4 showing the extended position of the condimentcarrier in broken lines and Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary verticaldetailed sectional view taken as indicated by line 6-6 on Fig. 4.

This application relates to range devices or constructions of thegeneral character described and claimed in my co-pending application,Serial No. 148,872, filed June 18, 1937.

The present invention may be applied to or embodied in gas ranges andelectric cooking ranges of various types and styles. In the followingdetailed description I will describe typical forms of the invention asembodied in a more or less conventional type of cooking range. It is tobe understood that the invention is not to be construed as limited orrestricted to the specific forms or applications of the invention aboutto be described.

The cooking range construction of the present invention illustrated inFigs. 1, 2 and 3 of the drawing includes, generally, a range body [0having a hinged cover 12, a rear guard rail H on the body lil, acondiment carrier l3 and means M for shifting the carrier l3 between aposition where it is accessible at the face of the rail II and aposition at an end of the range body H) where it is accessible when thecover I2 is raised.

The range body Ill may be of any suitable or typical construction andthe present invention is not primarily concerned with the details of therange body. For this reason I have illustrated only a portion of therange body, which portion includes the front 25 and a side or end 29.The cover I2 is provided to extend over the top or a portion of the topof the range body ii]. In practice there may be two covers I2, one forcovering the top burners of the range and the other for covering theplate warming top of the oven. As the covers 12 are identical I haveincluded only one of them in the present disclosure. The

cover l2 has its rear edge hinged to the body ll] in the usual manner,to be swung between the closed position illustrated in the drawing, anda substantially vertical position where it projects upwardly adjacentthe rear edge of the body ID.

The rear guard apron or rail ll extends along the rear edge portion ofthe body In and is upstanding or substantially vertical. While I haveillustrated only one end portion of the rail 56 it is to be understoodthat the rail may extend along substantially the entire rear edge of thebody It and that the portion of the rail omitted from the drawing may becomplementary to that shown. The rail H has an opening l6 spacedinwardly some distance from its adjacent end. There may be an openingsimilar to the opening I6 in the rail H adjacent its other end. Theparticular opening [6 illustrated in the drawing is rectangular and isprovided to render the condiment carrier l3 accessible when it is in itsnormal position, as will be subsequently described.

The condiment carrier I3 is normally positioned at the rear of the railII to be accessible through the opening it .and is swingable orshiftable outwardly to a position beyond the adjacent end of the railwhen the cover. I2 is to be raised so that it may be readily accessiblewhen the cover is in its up or vertical position. Thecarrier l3 may be agenerally rectangular member formed of sheet metal or the like. Thecarrier l3 may have a closed back 42. closed sides and closed top andbottom walls. The front or forward side of the condiment carrier I3 isopen to receive condiment receptacles 18. The open front of the carrierl3 may be of sufficient size to fully register with the opening l5 whenthe carrier is in its normal position.

The means 4 for supporting and for shifting the carrier l3 includes asubstantially horizontal shaft 43 extending through an opening in theapron or rail i l. The shaft 43 may be spaced between the opening l6 andthe adjacent end of the rail I I. A suitable knob 44 is fixed to theouter end of the shaft 43 to facilitate the manual turning of the shaft.knob 44 is located adjacent the end of the rail H, to be accessible formanipulation when the adjacent range cover I2 is in its raised position.The user may introduce his hand or fingers between the raised cover l2and the rail H to engage and manipulate the knob 44 adjacent the end ofthe rail. The shaft 43 may be rotatably carried by a suitable bracket 45on the rear side of the rail H. The bracket 45 may be attached to theedge flange 2| of the rail II and to a suitable part (not shown) of therange body Iii. A pinion 45 is fixed to the inner or rear portion of theshaft 43. A second shaft is rotat ably supported by the bracket 45 inspaced relation to the shaft 43. The shaft 41 projects some distancerearwardly from the bracket 45 and its outer portion may be rotatablysupported by an arm 48 on the bracket. A segment gear 49 is fixed to theshaft 4! and meshes with the pinion 46. The bracket 45 has a transversebar 22. Spaced adjustable screws 50 are carried by the bracket bar 22and are engageable by the ends of the segment gear 49 to limit turningof the shaft 41 and to prevent disengagement of the gear from the pinion46.

The means l4 includes an operative connection between the shaft 41 andthe condiment carrier 13 whereby the carrier is supported on the shaft4! and is movable by the shaft. This connection comprises a lever arm 5|fixed to the shaft 41 to be turned. thereby. The condiment. carrier Itis to be noted that the I3 is pivotally connected with the arm 5! to besupported thereon. The point of pivotal connection between the arm 5|and the carrier is is preferably located above the center of gravity ofthe carrier l3 and substantially midway between the opposite sides ofthe carrier. In the construction illustrated a bracket 52 is secured tothe rear wall 42 of the carrier 53 adjacent its upper edge andsubstantially midway betweenits opposite sides. A pin 53 is carried bythe bracket 52 and is pivotally received in an opening 54 in the arm 5|.The ends of the pin 53 may be riveted over to prevent the disconnectionof the carrier l3 from the arm 5|. When the knob 44 is turned to swingthe arm 5| the carrier l3 of course moves with the arm and pivots aboutthe axis of the pin 53 to remain in its upright position where its upperand lower walls are substantially horizontal. Thus when the arm 5! ismoved to the position illustrated by the broken lines in Fig. 2 the topand bottom walls of the carrier 43 remain substantially horizontallythroughout the swinging movement of the arm. 7,

It is preferred to provide means at the opening I6 to definitely locateand stop the carrier 43 when the carrier is returned to its normalposition. A flange 55 extends rearwardly from the rail I! at the loweredge of the opening 55 and a similar flange 55 projects rearwardly fromthe rail at the side edge of the opening l6 most remote from theadjacent end of the rail II. The flanges 55 and 56 are engaged by thebottom and an end respectively of the carrier l3 to definitely locatethe carrier l3 and to prevent pivoting of the carrier when the same isat the opening it.

It is believed that the operation of the construction illustrated inFigs. 1, 2 and 3 will be understood from the foregoing detaileddescription. The condiment carrier I3 may normally be located at therear of the opening it tohave its open front register with the openingso that the receptacles [8 are conveniently accessible. The flanges 55and 56 serve to definitely prevent rocking or swinging of the carrier l3when it is in this position. When the adjacent range cover I2 is to beraisedthe knob 44 may be turned to swing the lever 5| outwardly. Thecarrier [3 is of course moved with the arm 5! but independently pivotsabout the axis of the pin 53 to remain in the position where its upperand lower walls are horizontal. The knob 44 may be turned until an edgeof the segment gear 49 engages a screw 50 to stop further movement ofthe arm and carrier. This positions the carrier l3 as illustrated by thebroken lines in Fig. 2. With the carrier [3 in this position thecondiment receptacles l8 are conveniently accessible. Thus the cover l2may be moved to its upright or vertical position without covering orconcealing the condiment containers l8. As pointed out above, the knob44 may be if necessary engaged when the cover 52 is in its verticalposition so that the carrier 53 may be swung to its out position afterthe cover has been raised. In a like manner the knob 44 may bemanipulated to return the carrier l3 to its position at the opening l6at any time. It will be observed that the carrier l3 cannot at any timeengage or interfere with the hinged cover 12. The carrier I3 is at alltimes at the rear of the apron or. rail II and cannot be struck by thecover [2.

Figs. 4, 5 and 6 of the drawing illustrate a form of the invention inwhich the condiment carrier l3 is shiftable or translatable. The con-'struction illustrated in Figs. 4, 5 and 6 includes,

generally, a guard apron or rail I l having an opening 60, a condimentcarrier l3 shiftable between a position at the opening 60 and a positionbeyond an end of the rail Il and means 6| for moving or shifting thecarrier I3*-.

The guard apron or rail ll projects upwardly at the rear edge of therange body and may be similar to the rail II. The opening 60 may berectangular and is preferably spaced inwardly from an end of the rail.It is to be understood, of course, that the raill l may have two similaropenings 60, one adjacent each end.

The condiment carrier It may be similar to the carrier I3 of the abovedescribed form of the invention. The carrier IS may be substantiallyrectangular and formed of sheet metal, or the like. The carrier 13 hasan open forward side and its back, ends, sides, top and bottom areclosed. The open front or side of the carrier l3 is preferablysufiiciently large to fully communicate with the opening 60 when thecarrier is in its normal position at the opening. In accordance withthis form of the invention the carrier I3 is supported for substantiallyhorizontal movement at the rear of the'rail Il A bracket 62 is securedto the rear side of the rail ll and has a horizontal track 63. The track63 may be substantially U-shaped in-cross section, as best illustratedin Fig. 6. A flange or channel member 64 is secured to the top of thecarrier 53 to shiftably cooperate with the track 63 for the purpose ofsupporting the carrier for horizontal movement along the track. Themember 64 may be substantially U-shaped in transverse cross section andslidably hooks into or shiftably meshes with the U-shaped track 63 toprevent rearward, as well as downward, movement of the carrier 13 andyet allow movement of the carrier along the track. The member 64 is ofsufiicient length to have a substantial portion in cooperation with thetrack 63 when the carrier is in its extended position shown by thebroken lines in Fig. 5.

The means 6| for moving the condiment carrier l3 is in the nature of arack and pinion means. A shaft 65 extends through an opening in the railll and a knob 66 is secured to its forward end to be accessible at theface of the rail. A bracket 61 is secured to the rear side of the rail Mand has an upwardly facing fork or yoke 68 rotatably supporting theshaft 65. The means 6| further includes a pinion 69 fixed on the shaft55 between the arms of the yoke 68. The pinion 59 is provided to meshwith the teeth of a rack 15 on the condiment carrier B The rack 10 maybe rigidly secured to the bottom wall of the carrier I3 and projectssome distance inwardly from the carrier relative to the adjacent end ofthe rail H The bracket 61 may have a plurality of spaced upwardly facingyokes H to act asguides for the rack 10. The rack 'lll cooperating withthe yokes 'H and the yoke 68 is retained in proper mesh with the pinion69 and prevents rearward movement of the lower end of the condimentcarrier l3*-. A lug 12 on the rack 10 may carry an adjustable stop screw13. The screw 73 may engage the bracket 61 to limit the outward movementof the rack 10 and the carrier 13*. When the carrier I3 is in itsprojected position illustrated by the broken lines in Fig. the rack hasits inner portion engaged and guided by the yokes H and 68. Stops 15 areprovided on the rear surface of the rail Il to stop the inward movementof the carrier l3 in a position in registration with the opening 60.

In the use of operation of the construction illustrated in Figs. 4, 5and 6 of the drawing the knob 66 may be turned to move the condimentcarrier I3 to the extended position. This may be done before theadjacent range cover I2 is raised. When the condiment carrier I3 is inthe extended position shown by the broken lines in Fig. 5 thereceptacles or containers I8 in the carrier are conveniently accessiblefor use. The carrier l3 at all times remains behind the rail ll so thatit does not interfere with the adjacent range cover I2 when the same israised. The means El for operating the carrier I3 and the means forsupporting the carrier [3 are entirely concealed at the rear of the railI l When the carrier lit is at the opening 60 the receptacles w areeasily engaged and may be readily removed from the carrier through theopening 60.

Having described only typical preferred forms and applications of myinvention, I do not wish to be limited or restricted to the specificdetails herein set forth, but wish to reserve to myself any variationsor modifications that may appear to those skilled in the art or fallwithin the scope of the following claims.

Having described my invention, I claim:

1. In a cooking range having a rear guard rail with an opening, acondiment carrier behind the rail, means supporting the carrier formovement between a position where its contents are accessible throughthe opening and a position where its contents are accessible beyond amargin of the rail, and gear means for moving the carrier.

2. A cooking range including a body, a rear guard rail on the bodyhaving an opening, a condiment carrier at the rear of the rail, meanssupporting the carrier for swinging movement, and means for swinging thecarrier between a position where its contents are accessible through theopening and a position beyond an edge of the rail to be readilyaccessible.

3. In a cooking range having a rear guard rail with an opening, thecombination of, a condiment carrier at the rear of the rail, and meansfor moving the carrier between a position where its contents areaccessible through the opening and a position where it is accessiblebeyond an edge of the rail, said means including a gear elementconnected with the carrier, and a manually operable gear elementcooperating with the first mentioned gear element.

4. In a cooking range having a rear guard rail with an opening, acondiment carrier at the rear of the rail, and means for swinging thecarrier about a substantially horizontal axis between a position whereits contents are accessible through the opening and a position Where itscontents are accessible beyond a margin of the rail.

5. In a cooking range having a body, the combination of, a guard rail onthe body having an opening, a condiment carrier at the rear side of therail, and gear means for moving the carrier from a position where it isaccessible through the opening and a position where it is accessiblebeyond an end of the rail.

6. In a cooking range having a body, the combination of, a guard rail onthe body having an opening, a shiftable condiment carrier at the rearside of the rail, a swingable arm carrying the carrier, and means forswinging the arm to move the carrier between a position where it isaccessible through the opening and a position beyond an end of the rail.

7. In a cooking range having a body, the combination of, a guard railon'thel body havinglan opening, a shiftable condiment carrier at therear side of the rail, a swingable arm carrying the carrier, and gearmeans for swinging the arm to move the carrier between a position whereit is accessible through the opening and a position beyond an end of therail.

8. In a cooking range having a body, the combination of, a guard rail onthe body having an opening, a shiftable condiment carrier at the rearside of the rail, and rack and pinion means for shifting the carrierbetween a position where it is accessible through the opening and aposition beyond an end of the rail.

9. In a cooking range having a body, the combination of, a guard rail onthe body having an opening, a shiftable condiment carrier at the rearside of the rail, a swingable arm carrying the carrier, stop meanslocating the carrier where it is accessible through the opening, andmanually operable gear means for swinging the arm to move the carrierbetween the position at the opening and a position beyond an end of therail.

10. In a cooking range having a body, the combination of, a guard railon the body having an opening, a shiftable condiment carrier at the rearside of the rail, a swingable arm carrying the carrier, gear mechanismbehind the rail for swinging the arm to move the carrier between theposition at the opening and a position beyond an end of the rail, and amanually operable part at the face of the rail for operating the gearmechanism.

11. In a cooking range having body, the combination of, a guard rail onthe body having an opening, a shiftable condiment carrier at the rearside of the rail, track means supporting the carrier for movementbetween a position where it is accessible through the opening and aposi+ tion Where it is accessible beyond an end of the rail, andmanually operable means for shiftin the carrier.

12. In a cooking range having a body, the combination of, av guard railon the body having an opening, a shiftable condiment carrier at the rearside of the rail, track means supporting the carrierfor movement betweena position where it is accessible through the opening and a positionwhere it is accessible beyond an end of the rail, and manually operablemeans for shifting the carrier, the last mentioned means including arack on the carrier, a rotatable shaft having a manual operating part atthe front of the rail, and a pinion on the shaft meshing with the rack.

13. In a cooking range having a body, the combination of, a guard railon the bodyv having an opening, a shiftable condiment carrier at therear side of the rail, track, means supporting the carrier for movementbetween a position where it is accessible through the opening and aposition where it is accessible beyond an end of the rail, and manuallyoperable means for shifting the carrier, the last mentioned meansincluding a rack on the carrier, a rotatable shaft on the rail, a handleon the. shaft accessible from'the front of the rail, a pinion on theshaft meshing with the rack, and stop means for stopping the carrier inthe two said positions.

